eternal fair - the sunset & the comet

Ever gone to a movie by yourself? First time feels weird - like everyone is staring, wondering what the creeper with a kid's snack pack is doing alone on opening night of "Tangled". Take that feeling and magnify it by a million if you ever plan on going to a Seattle show alone. Amidst a sea of flannel-clad, heavily spectacled, chain smoking hipsters in tapered denim, the lone show-goer sticks out like a sore thumb. Enter: ME at the Eternal Fair show at Ballard's Sunset Tavern July 22nd. I was really hoping either A) Eternal Fair would go on first or B) the opening bands would be super quick so I could beat it out of there. Was the music that bad? No. But the dude sitting next to me at the bar was creeptastic. Picture with me a 40 year old man drinking cheaper booze than I was spending the entire time critiquing art and showing me 30+ pictures of crotch rockets on his Droid. THIRTY. Luckily, I'm a master of acting a dutiful listener yet hearing absolutely nothing. Did I mention this guy had a full-blown Kentucky Waterfall? You just don't see those outside of incestuous mining towns anymore these days, much less the Seattle bar scene.

I digress...

Alone. Eternal Fair Show. My saving grace of the night was some solid music with the faithful not at the Capitol Hill Block Party. Opening act "Boxcar Rebellion" left a lot to be desired that night. Their set lacked cohesion and I just wasn't digging the "mid-life crisis" vibe they were putting off. Aside from a couple decent face-melting guitar solos by lead singer Kathy Moore, all I really saw was a band of old people trying a little too hard. There you go - that was the first negative thing I've ever said in a music review! Had to happen at some point, right? Moving on...thank God Eternal Fair was on their game. Second up to bat, they undeniably brought the heat and got people on their feet at Sunset. Everyone from dirty hippies to soccer moms were shakin what their momma gave them on the floor. Like I mentioned before, lead singer Andrew Vait channels Emile Hirsch better than Emile Hirsch does and after the most excessive mic check I've ever witnessed, Andrew, Brent Rusinow and Daniel Nash hit the stage and I had an instant smile on my face. Long forgotten was my oddball bar neighbor as some MGMT-esque strains hit my ears. I kept mentally noting how incredible of a musican Andrew is - he never fails to disappoint, this time flawlessly switching between the guitar and keys. Though each song had it's own unique identity, the entire set was bound together by Vait's Muse-like vocals, Rusinow's fuzzy bass and some solid beats on Nash's part. After a show like that, I almost forgot about headliner M. Bison, who wrapped up the show with a set eerily reminscent of Animal Collective. I listened to a few of their songs but was soon overwhelmed by a slew of Spokane visitors, Fireball whiskey and the urge to get far, far away from stanky hippies in motion.

courtesy of Eternal Fair

Hands down, Eternal Fair is coming into their own and getting better every damn time. Lucky for Seattleites, your latest opportunity to let them cast a spell on you is this Friday at Capitol Hill's Comet Tavern (9 pm, $7 cover) with American Girls and Portland's own, John Craig + The Weekend. Just don't go alone...you may end up peeping rare mullets and pictures of motorcycles.

the bonfires

after finding TWO gray hairs this weekend (TWO!), i really needed something good in my life. enter: the bonfires, an unsigned band of lifelong friends from london who i'm batshit crazy about. my first taste of them was "same heart" and i got the same feeling one gets when locking eyes with the love of their life. since they've got nothing on iTunes, soundcloud will have to do for now but play the hell out of them and spread the word.

the naked & famous

silence on the blogwaves. i've been working on some different projects for friends but have a suh-weet show review and other good finds coming for ya next week.

until then, just try to sit still while listening to this song by my latest obsession, the naked and famous. they're on a ridiculous tour schedule right now but will be swinging through PDX in october. anyone wanna road trip???

tkj, ko & yrm @ cct

so. many. initials.

and if you don't know what they stand for, you clearly aren't a rapacious seattle indie music glutton. friday night i not only had my first experience with fireball cinnamon whiskey (so much more to come on that later) but also with the columbia city theater and tony kevin jr. you could kind of say it was like a first date for junior and i - one where he sang sweet nothings into my ear and i stood there tucked in the back row with my mouth hanging open in unabashed awe. disregard the fact that everything i do is unabashed. listening to TKJr. is like hearing an old friend again - his voice will take you back to every golden and devastating spot in your life. he opened his mouth and all of a sudden i was couples skating with justin keller to boyz II men and getting my heart broken by my first love all at the same time. tony did this all while channeling "lonely" better than charlie brown's christmas tree.in just one song TKJr. can take you from the mountaintop to the valley and back again. maybe this has something to do with the fact that his father (tony kevin senior) is battling cancer and he sings every song for his dad (be still my heart). the only crushing disappointment of his set was that i arrived halfway through it. shame on me.

if tony kevin jr. were a musical mathematical equation, methinks he would be something like this:

[ivan & alyosha] + [eddie vedder] + a dash of [damien rice] = tony kevin jr.

*feel free to disagree with me (see below)

TKJr. is that dapper fellow on the far right

now that tony had reduced me to a nostalgic heap, i looked to kris orlowski and friends to lift my spirits back to an appropriate friday night, whiskey guzzling level. and he did not disappoint. kris opened with a flawless a cappella rendition of paul simon's "the boxer" alongside motopony's daniel blue and seattle's flaxen-haired stevie wonder, allen stone. no, they unfortunately didn't ditch clothing like in the video below but you get the picture.

perhaps the COOLEST shit i have ever seen

and flawless seemed to describe the rest of kris' set, with each song rising to meet my every expectation of damn good music. i've got to give major ups to the band as well (scott shrock on bass, ivan gundersen on drums, torry anderson on keys/vocals and mark izakson on guitar) who were the best i've seen in a long time. kris was later joined on "your move" by a bevy of local talent including daniel and allen, tony kevin jr. and zach fleury from hot bodies in motion. my note from that song only says, "AWESOME" and that's exactly what it was. i made a move to get close enough for a high-quality iPhone 3G picture (drip goes the sarcasm) and in my frenzied attempt at amateur photography, dumped half of my delicious cinnamon whiskey down my dress. on the plus-side, i maintained enough composure to get the A+ pic below and caught most of the fireball in my hair, making me smell like a cinnamon gummy bear for the rest of the night. forget the fact that the left side of my hair was crusted stiff...i smelled like candy!

fun fact of the night: kris tried to defy all odds and began his set with his hair parted on the wrong side of his head. over the course of the night, it naturally migrated back to its safe place on the left. i'm an observer of people. i notice these things.

quote of the night: (from drunk heidi in line for the bathroom) "maybe YOU need sex but I had sex YESTERDAY. I HAD SEX YESTERDAYYYYY!"

(OKAY HEIDI. you don't have to rub it in my face like that)

i would continue this review with my thoughts on youth rescue mission but they've turned out to be a bit disappointing for me. the first time i encountered YRM (at a hot bodies show), i was too busy avoiding a run-in with an overly zealous ex to pay any attention to them. dodging a college flame while double-fisting rolling rocks is not easy people. friday night, they were not my cup of tea. just not my style and some poorly executed four part harmonies let me call it a night a little earlier than expected. BUT, i'm a fan of second and third chances so maybe next time they'll wow this blogger.

** be sure to keep your eyes peeled in the coming days for a video from our friends at all cameras on who had audience members record kris' song "jessi".

kris orlowski

you ever get that 90's sensation the "skip it"? i remember my first and all the emotions that swirled when i finally had it in my hands - like i wanted to weep, leap and natch, skip it, all at once. that's kind of how i feel when i listen to my shiny new friend, kris orlowski.

kris is coming into his own this year in seattle's indie music scene and i feel privileged to watch his comet rise. i can't listen to his fremont abbey EP enough - from day one it was (and still is) on heavy, heavy rotation as i've tried to nail down his sound. if kris were a vocal math equation, i feel like he'd be something like zis:

mat kearney x blue merle + a dash of chris martin = kris orlowski

hearing him sing feels kind of spiritual for me - he spins stories into songs and you can't help but be lured into the tale, feeling sadness looming, joy swelling, hope rising all at once. see what i mean?



this video was recorded off-the-cuff in seattle's capital hill just two days ago (by the brilliant eratosthenes fackenthall). so saying it's fresh to death is a bit of an understatement. i mean, when he wails, "lean on me" there's literally nothing else i'd rather do. he's a genius...and it doesn't hurt that he's sexy as hell.

waltz of petunia was recorded at the fremont abbey and if you have a sharp seattleite eye, you'll notice it's a mini "who's who" of seattle musicians including allen stone, lerin herzer and HBIM's own, zack fleury (among others). now that i have you hooked on kris, show him some love this friday at the columbia city theater @ 9 pm. for $10 you can have your own "skip it" moment and hear some lovely guests like youth rescue mission and tony kevin jr. getcha tickets HERE.

allen stone w. eternal fair

last friday night at the crocodile, i was that girl. you know, front row, sweaty, screaming and whipping out my iPhone every 6-9 seconds to type a longggggg ass note reviewing the allen stone show with openers eternal fair and special guests alessandra rose, kris orlowski, and ben carson of hot bodies in motion. blew my muthaeffin mind people. in case you were lame enough not to show, here's the rundown.

the sold-out show kicked off with emile hirsch's long lost cosmic twin, andrew vait and his band, eternal fair. i nearly shed a tear when he said they didn't have any albums available yet BUT that didn't dampen the golden set these indie rockers flawlessly executed. though definitely harnessing his own sound, andrew had the innate ability to conjure phil collins, kings of leon's caleb followill and panic! at the disco's brendan urie all at once. other times, he just let his fingers do the talking with some face-melting guitar solos (although i was strongly tempted to let MY fingers do the talking in his gorgeous mop of hair...le sigh). all in all, a rousing set by a group hitting their musical stride. do yourself a favor and see them next friday, july 22nd at ballard's own sunset tavern.

now, where do i even begin with allen stone? he's a black voice trapped in a white body. stevie wonder's gestures and head sway with john mayer's facial expressions. he's got a ridiculously soul-filled sound that would make the likes of elvis and jackie wilson roll in their graves. he's that damn good. he opened with some crowd pleasing folk covers further enhanced by the bevy of friends including some of seattle's finest up-and-comers. when he finally did launch into his own arsenal of songs there wasn't a bystander in the house. hundreds of literal hot bodies in motion were funking the shizzzzz outta the place as allen brought the house down. big ups to the two wasted girls to my right who shoved and spilled beer on me roughly 23 times. you weren't annoying at all. allen ended up performing (with a costume change and ever-present prospector's hat) for just over two glorious hours and i couldn't wipe the grin off my face. he's a master at what he does - born to perform and croon to the masses. for an encore, allen KILLED ITTTTTT with his fan favorite, "last to speak". video of that and my favorite song "figure it out" below.

with alessandra rose and ben carson from HBIM

with alessandra rose, kris orlowski, and andrew vait of eternal fair

cosmic love

DY. ING.

pretty much describes how i feel about florence + the machine's song "cosmic love". gives me ch-ch-chills. happy friday peoples.

alex clare

ob.sessed. can't get over him.

if his voice were a math equation it would look sometehing like this:

voice of ben carson (hot bodies in motion), adele & gary go PLUS music of deadmau5 EQUALS alex clare

perhaps better described by forrest j. underwood as "Black Keys meets Dubstep"

you be the judge...







whaddya think???

paris

showing some pre-weekend love for all two of you who read this thing on fridays. it cut my heart deeply to have missed my new obsession at wakarusa last weekend (post on that coming next week) because, quite frankly, grace potter and the nocturnals have stolen my heart. and in all honesty, i'm jealous of her. her badass-ness. her raspy, rocker voice. her LEGS FOR DAYS. oh and her bangs are awesome. i tried fake bangs last night and in the wise words of andria, "uh...you look like a total hippie" - and not the good kind. it probably didn't help that my hair is on a 5 day, no wash binge and looks strikingly similar to a lion's mane.

i have to give solid ups to one, forrest j. underwood, for bringing grace into my life. i'm pretty sure he a) wishes grace's name were actually paris and b) truly means it when he sings, "i wish i were in paris" along with the ear snack below. PLEASE, if you do anything good for yourself this weekend or in your life in general, put GP on heavy, heavy rotation. your body, mind and spirit will thank you for it. she's currently making the rounds @ america's greatest music festivals but has a bangin' tour schedule going on right now as well.

if you're interested in hearing more of grace & the nocturnals you can do one or both of the following:

1. email me at kbarnes@spu.edu and i will dropbox you the entire album or,

2. turn on your favorite local country station and hear her sultry croon cover the multitude of sin's kenny chesney's voice creates on their duet, "you and tequila"

happy friday fellow music lovers. happy friday.

p.s. the aforementioned forrest j. underwood just happens to be an extremely eligible bachelor who also happens to bring the party wherever he goes and happens to be a C-130 pilot for the air force...interested?

best love song

this song will get my blood pumping EVERY TIME. love it. and the curious little music video. i haven't even finished watching it i'm so jazzed over it's arrival (: just a little something to get you through hump day.

paisley

best way to banish a hot and heavy case of the mondays? with brad paisley's new album, this is country music. i've got my fresh pre-ordered copy and have already passed it on to, oh, 10+ friends. because as i always say, sharing is caring.

this is brad's greatest album yet, chock full with features from carrie underwood, alabama, blake shelton, sheryl crow, don henley, clint eastwood, marty stuart and carl jackson. early frontrunners for album favorites are remind me (with carrie) and old alabama. seriously, go getcha'self a copy and spread the love.

this is country music

i started reading cash: the autobiography of johnny cash several nights ago and am fully smitten. the man wrote like he spoke - straightforward, candidly and with no frills. i love when you can actually hear someone in their writing style. johnny's words were tempered with gratitude for everything around him - june, his family, "the gift" (his mom's moniker for his voice), health, happiness, jamaica (where he spent much of his time) and his upbringing. early on, i was struck by his observation in chapter two:

i was talking with a friend of mine the other day: that country life as I knew it might really be a thing of the past and when music people today, performers and fans alike, talk about being "country," they don't mean they know or even care about the land and the life it sustains and regulates. they're talking more about choices - a way to look, a group to belong to, a kind of music to call their own. which begs a question: is there anything behind the symbols of modern "country," or are the symbols themselves the whole story? are the hats, the boots, the pickup trucks, and the honky-tonking poses all that's left of a disintegrating culture? back in arkansas, a way of life produced a certain kind of music. does a certain kind of music now produce a way of life? maybe that's okay. i don't know. i wonder how many people have ever filled a cotton sack. i wonder if they know that before i became 'not country' in the '90s, their predecessors were calling me 'not country' in the '50s and the '60s and the '70s too (i was invisible in the 80s)

since my musical taste breaks down to 35% chris brown, 55% country music, 10% other, i've legitimately given a lot of thought to the content of the hillbilly tunage i'm filling my ears with. and i totally understand what johnny is saying. did lady antebellum really "grow up on the side of the road where church bells ring and strong love grows"? did brad paisley actually know a "perfect little path" where he "used to hunt" so he can check me for ticks? is faith hill truly a "mississippi girl"? these questions may not plague you while listening to the soft strains of lil wayne or lady gag-me but they haunt me. okay, that's not true, but i do find myself wondering on a daily basis if they sing from experience or if they're just singing about they're cheating wife, drinking beers, lakeside sunsets and Lord and Savior to sell records. all while wearing Rock & Republics and a $199 plaid shirt. these are just the ponderings of a wandering mind. if you read yesterday's post you now know that i have a lot of time on my hands to contemplate such matters (: my point being, it may not be important to you but give a sharper listen the next time your favorite tune sneaks on the airwaves. show some serious love to those artists that sing from a place of truth and reality, no matter the genre.

adele

the woman don't lie. love her.

the blog will be ON like donkey kong next week, dontcha fret.

friday faves

The sweet sounds of a weekend are calling my name...what's that? A vacation? Oh yeah, I'm going to Colorado for two whole weeks. Bittersweet trip but it beats warming a cube for 40 hours a week. Somehow I stumbled upon Silhouette Masterpiece Theater this week and it blew my mind. Few things make me truly laugh out loud (I refuse to type that blasted acronym) but this was one of them. You've got to visit the site to see the entire collection. It's awesome. Below are some of my faves.

If you have time to burn, swing by Jay-Z's newest endeavor, Life & Times. I don't really know how to categorize this site. According to Jay (aka Sean Carter) it's all about "making the ordinary extraordinary" and covers virtually any dinner topic you'd ever need to have in your social arsenal. It's got music, technology, history, imagery, Q&A's and so much more. Want a portrait of the decay of America in Gary, Indiana? Check. A reality check on the car culture of Queens? This delightful time suck has it all. It's like taking a deliciously eclectic trip down the rabbit hole of Jay-Z's mind.

Have a great weekend friends, whether running Boston (GO QUINN!) or fighting freedom in Kyrgyzstan (heyyyyyy Rem). See you next week.

monday funday

what a weekend folks. what a weekend. it all kicked off friday night with a phenomenal allen stone show @ neumos in capitol hill. gah. there was scintillating company (with him, her and her), a grumpy sushi waitress, cupcakes, hipsters, PBR in a can, a potential unibomber and lotsa hot, sweaty bodies in motion. all that to say - it was perfect because of the following:

1. running into old and dear friends

2. avoiding the unibomber - this 50+ year old fellow came to a show in a full on trench coat, felt hat and HUGE backpack. unfortunately, he looked eerily similar to my future father-in-law (unfortunate because i really like my FIL). i might have started a rumor that there was a bomb in there (A JOKE RUMOR, OKAY?) and finally had to ask him by the end of the night what the EFF was in the bag. books. books? yep, books. he loves them and carries them everywhere. not weird at all...

3. watching allen freaking stone. he's amazing. take stevie wonder's mannerisms + a dash of john mayer's facial expressions + the voice of robin thicke + justin timberlake's falsetto and you've got allen stone. since my work finally got smart and blocked youtube, the company's greatest time suck, go search "allen stone neumos is this love" and listen to allen's smooth cover of bob marley's "is this love?"

4. your friends and mine, the gentlemen of hot bodies in motion, made a guest appearance during a delicious stevie wonder cover. it made my arm hairs stand up it was that good. in other news...today was most definitely MONDAY FUNDAY. my mailbox overfloweth with good things. check it out.

have i mentioned that i one day will own a paper company called the nitty gritty card committee? don't even think about stealing my name, copyright pending. anywho, i have a penchant for paper products espcially ones like these here from kate's paper goods.

i went to SPU with kate hart. she was a wicked runner and super cute (still is, to be clear) and now based out of sunny pasadena. when i saw her pacific NW suite, i had to have it. lucky for us, her blog is just as cunning as her cards are.

i love love. i also love my friends. so when my friends fall in love and get married, it the BEST thing everrrrrrr. received deb & colin's wedding invite today and can't wait to rally with my family and party in the mile high state for memorial day weekend.

and finally, i got this little gem in the mail. thanks to my newest girl crushes, brandi lisenbe & kelly garcia, of bueno bueno. i was lusting after it, dreamt of it and had to have it especially when i saw lonnie webb had TWO! it came and i'm wearing it all over the place already. and i thought i didn't believe in love at first sight...

people's republic of tuesday

i don't know what it is about tuesday but today i came across a disproportionate amount of gorgeous people and they're just too pretty to keep to myself. it was like a helmet fire of the most glorious kind! my inspiration folder for the week is FULL, which is good news for the both of us. enjoy the eye candy.

disclaimer: i have included a picture of myself at the end of this post, chiefly for the purpose of conveying my excitement that i got the new CB album "F.A.M.E." a whole day before its release. my aim is not just to affiliate myself with the aforementioned "gorgeous people" but, in my own small way, celebrate this day you could probably care less about momentous occasion.

via the ones 2 watch

stumbling across spell designs was like finding my long lost cosmic twin. their designs (and hair) are the stuff boho dreams are made of. i'm now their #1 stalker.

Elle France, October 2010

via samantha's avenue

this makes me anxious for summer and sun

going wild for wilde

heyoka leather's spring '09 and fall '10 lookbooks are to die for

Elle France, October 2010

the ever timeless, grace kelly

Liu Wen, the face of Elle China, September 2008

taylor swift + the big top = circus gypsy

not sure who the babe on the back is but when i happened across this pic on where is the cool i recognized my old SPU-mate chris cushingham, an industrial interior designer who always seemed to know what was hip before the rest of the world. he does it all too - models, designs, randomly appears on HGTV shows, you name it. keep an eye on him, the only place he's going is up, up and away.

another timeless babe - ali macgraw, star of my favorite movie "love story"

this little guy was solely responsible for turning monday into FUNDAY. and consequently made me happy as a clam.